Author: George Pheby

In the four decades that have passed since the apex of his creative prowess during the early-to-mid-1970s, Stevie Wonder’s voice has been heard echoed from every corner of pop, R&B, soul, funk, jazz and hip hop music, to the point of almost being taken for granted at times. Perhaps Wonder’s influence represents a force so pervasive throughout popular music that it can be difficult to fathom such a powerful artistic impact originating from only a single source, but the fact that the Motown luminary’s life and legacy has also remained somewhat elusive likely also contributes to this illusory quality. ...

Off the back of the new single, ‘Kisses on the Mirror’, and in the build-up to a soon-to-be-released debut EP dropping towards the end of the month, I was fortunate enough to quiz up-and-coming neo soul outfit J & The Rest on their history, their recent happenings and what fans can expect from them in the near future. Having formed following a chance jamming session, what was it about your first meet-up that made it seem like you could have something special? I think it was how instantly we became good friends, which helped a lot. There were...

Capturing not only the playing style, but also the unique personality of a musical bellwether is no easy feat, but when it comes to encapsulating the energetic, dynamic and charismatic approach to jazz piano of Harlem stride piano innovator Fats Waller, none execute this with the same precision as Keith Nichols. With Fats’ son, Maurice, lauding Nichols as accurately reproducing the playing style of his father like no other pianist he has heard, the jazz piano veteran will be appearing with his sextet at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on the 9th of July to showcase the...

The first breaths of the opening title track to Auction for the Promise Club’s debut, full-length studio album, Silence, allude to the vivid sense of dynamics presented across much of the record. Indeed, if there’s one thing that sets this Southwest-based band apart from other UK indie rock outfits of a similar ilk, it’s their willingness and ability to toy with textures in a way that is all the more admirable when bearing in mind that it is only three people crafting these sounds, and the introductory moments of the group’s debut LP convey this in an instantly striking...

Amidst the political tumult and widening societal divisions of the late 1960s, from which an international phenomenon of peace-loving progressives was born, England’s biggest island, the Isle of Wight, held its first large-scale culture festival, which would quickly cement the verdant holiday destination as more than a weekend retreat from the worries of working life, but also as a countercultural haven for the British bloc of the hippie movement in the West. The island may only lie four miles off the coast of Hampshire, but this was perhaps all the distance needed to provide a sense of escapism from...